5 Educational AND Entertaining Business Books to Read NOW

I love to read. And I almost exlusively read business books. My favorites are both educational and entertaining. Yes, business books can be entertaining – and even exciting. For me, these are the ones that tell true accounts of the failures and successes of entrepreneurs/startups, and provide gems of wisdom, and lots of humor, along the way. Below is a list of 5 of my 2010 favorites. They make for great Holiday reading as well as great Holiday gifts.

1) Stealing Myspace – the myspace story is one of countless twists, turns, villains, and saviors. Not only does it include a Who’s Who in today’s Internet space (Richard Rosenblatt of soon-to-go public Demand Media, Ross Levinsohn who was literally just hired last week to take control of Yahoo! Americas, and countless others), it also includes Sumner Redstone and Rupert Murdoch. It reads like a great fiction book, but is an accurate account – which makes it all the more entertaining.

2) CRUSH IT – if you don’t know who Gary Vaynerchuk (“Gary Vee of WineLibraryTV”) is by now, get with the program. This guy has more passion and energy when it comes to business development than I do – I am a HUGE fan! The book is a quick read and a must read. Its all about hustling and the best ways to leverage social media to build your personal brand and “cash in on your passion”. Here are Gary’s 3 Secrets to Success – which I LOVE:

3) The Accidental Billionaires – you have most likely seen (and loved!) The Social Network. This book is just as good, if not better. It is a tale of sex, money, genius and betrayal, and also a tale of how one of today’s most prominent and dominant Social Networking/Internet companies came to be.

4) Delivering Happiness – this is a book by an amazing entrepreneur and human, Tony Hsieh. I had the privilege of listening to him speak at last month’s PerfectBusiness Summit 2010. DH is an important book, as it is as much about passion and purpose as it is about profits. It tells the story of Zappos and provides great insight into the importance of company culture in building a brand and growing a company. It also includes thoughts on tribal theory, happiness, and what one can learn about business by playing Poker.

5) Do More Faster – this book was put together by David Cohen and Brad Feld of Techstars. They, as I, believe that mentoring and community are key factors in flourishing entrepreneurial ventures. There is no better way to avoid the many pitfalls of launching a business then learning from those who have gone before. This book is filled with 1-2 page chapters by Techstars Mentors and Mentees and is chockfull of great insights. I read this book in 2 days and bet you will too.

I have learned a great deal by reading Brad’s blog site Feld Thoughts . You should definitely check it out as well as follow him on Twitter @bfeld